13th March 2017

Shiran Illanperuma Staff Writer Reporting from Keppapulavu, Mullaitivu Displaced since the last stages of Sri Lanka’s civil war, returnees from the northeastern village of Pilakudiyiruppu in Mullaitivu are busy building makeshift tents where their houses used to stand. Just a few metres away, behind barbed wire, Air Force cadets can be seen ‒ playing sports on parts of the village they still occupy. Less than a week ago, following 30 days of relentless protest and an order from President and acting Defence Minister Maithripala Sirisena, the Sri Lanka Air Force released 54 acres of land it had been occupying, in the Keppapulavu Division of Mullaitivu, since the end of the civil war in 2009. It was supposed to be a joyous occasion for a beleaguered […]

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan Rtd. Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara will leave for Geneva tomorrow leading a three-man delegation to meet UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein to mount an offensive against the case, now argued before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), that Sri Lankan forces committed war crimes, especially during the closing stages of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This allegation is the centrepiece of the UNHRC resolution that is widely accepted by the international community including the Tamil Diaspora. He takes a 100-page dossier of facts to buttress his arguments against the allegations. Weerasekara, Chief Coordinator of The Federation of National Association sponsored by the Global Sri Lankan Forum, told Ceylon Today that UN Human Rights Chief […]

By Ashanthi Warunasuriya Political influence is threatening to derail the investigations into the murder of the The Sunday Leader Founder Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge. Investigators revealed that while there was considerable progress in the investigations, interference by the highest political and military echelons of the country may force the investigations to face a deadlock. Intelligence sources revealed to The Sunday Leader that while some VIPs/VVIPs and high profile individuals have been linked to the murder following the interrogation of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) intelligence sleuths, the interference of political and military stalwarts have prevented the Police from taking action against the VIPs in question. Investigations have revealed the final orders to murder Wickremetunga had been issued by a Colonel, who was a former intelligence operative and attached to the Commando Regiment. The Colonel is […]

Backbone needed to defy not capitulate to bigotry The UNHRC process; the blind leading the blinder by Kumar David His Excellency President Maithripala Sirisena is no Lincoln or Lenin; not even an NM. You need a backbone to stand up and defy racists, not to capitulate to them. Does a Sinhala politician need a backbone to cringe and do the bidding of chauvinists? SWRD would have required a backbone to persist with the B-C Pact, but not to surrender to saffron bigots and shred it. If Dudley had a spine he would have stood with the Dudley-Chelva Agreement; instead he proved another invertebrate. Sirisena says “he is neither disposed to doing things the foreign NGO way, nor inclined to help bring charge sheets against the […]

Yasmin Sooka spoke to The Wire about Sri Lanka’s transitional justice process, the sequencing of judicial mechanisms for the same and the role other countries can play. Yasmin Sooka. Credit: Youtube screenshot Yasmin Sooka is the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa, and the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP). She is regarded as a leading human rights lawyer, activist and an international expert in the fields of transitional justice, gender and international war crimes. She previously served on the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka. This interview has been edited lightly. Would you tell us a little bit about ITJP’s work? ITJP documents human rights violations and abuses as well as gathers evidence for the purposes of […]

CHENNAI: After becoming the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K Palaniswami has perhaps got his first chance to become the great Tamil saviour. Reminding Prime Minister Narendra Modi that protecting the life and liberty of fishermen from Tamil Nadu is the duty of the governments they headed, Palaniswami said the present escalation in the Palk Strait, in which a fisherman from Ramanathapuram was shot dead allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy, should not be ignored or tolerated under any circumstance. “Such inhuman and barbaric tactics by the Sri Lankan side completely nullifies the diplomatic efforts that have been undertaken, including the understanding reached in several meetings between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Government of India, as well as the recently-concluded Joint Working […]

by Ashanthi Warunasuriya Questions arise as to where funds and donations have gone Mrs Anoma Fonseka has not responded to the many attempts to be contacted The main reason for this could be lack of response to justify her conduct, RSA source claim Anoma Fonseka and the Mitsubishi Montero V98W XSR Three Criminal Investigation Department (CID) agents have been reportedly stationed at the Ranaviru Services Authority in order to report on public officials and whistle-blowers leaking information to media and anti-corruption activists, The Sunday Leader learns. The agents have been given the task of uncovering the sources who had leaked the documents revealing fraudulent activities to The Sunday Leader which were published recently. The matter has been discussed several times at the Ranawiru Services Authority […]

Parliamentarians and Provincial Councillors of TNA’s constituent parties met in Vavunia yesterday presided over by TNA leader R. Sampanthan and decided to demand for full implementation of the Geneva Resolution 30/1 which meant giving more time for the Government to fulfill its promises. The EPRLF however, had opposed saying that the party will distance itself from yesterday’s agreement.At a meeting held at the Vanni Inn TNA’s people’s representatives, including provincial councilors of Eastern and Northern provinces, concluded that they should demand the Human Rights Council that the Sri Lankan Tamils would be allowed to reap full benefits of the resolution 30/1 if the Government backtracks in its pledges. The resolution passed in Geneva in 2015 calls for a hybrid court with international judges and prosecutors […]